


Heir

by comixologist



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Timeline, Angst, F/M, Fights, Gen, Kissing, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-08
Updated: 2010-11-08
Packaged: 2017-10-13 03:04:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/132125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comixologist/pseuds/comixologist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Infinite Crisis, Tim struggles to come to terms with losing his best friend (on whom he had an unrequited crush). Luckily Lady Shiva is there to challenge and refocus him.</p><p>Originally conceived as part of One Year Later; posted in April of 2006.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. [one]

Tim picked himself up off the floor and spat blood, coughing weakly. His whole body ached, protesting loudly with a scream of muscle-burn the fact that he had even thought to try and move. He stumbled, swaying unsteadily on his feet, and staggered against the wall. Positive that he had blacked out, but not sure how long he'd been unconscious, Tim held his breath to listen for his opponent. He couldn't ignore how swollen his face was on the left side, throbbing and dry and stiff with old blood. He could barely see through that eye, but he could _feel_ her watching him.

"Ah - nnghhmph." Tim had no idea where his ability to form words had gone, and he tried again, breathlessly. "A-aaaugh!"

Angry, he lashed out with one two-ton fist and missed, unsurprisingly. His body felt too heavy for him. The force of his lurching movement swung him off-balance, and he slammed back into the wall.

"Your efforts are most admirable, little bird," Shiva said, effectively masking her own discomfort with smooth, solid intonation. She sounded unshakable, though the fight had been brutal.

Tim whimpered softly, his breath ragged as he slid back down to the floor. She took a step toward him, and he lashed out again, knuckles raw and bloodied where his gloves had torn. He went for her throat, and she laughed at him. Even as he crashed into her and let out a long, loud, animalistic cry, she laughed. Shiva had always thought that she could beat the logic out of Tim, but she had never expected to do it at his own request. He had practically begged her for the opportunity to spar with her again.

Landing a hard, sharp blow to her ribs, Tim made a triumphant grunt before she flipped the two of them over, pinning his hands high above his head. With her feet, she kicked her legs far apart and rested the whole of her weight on his knees, effectively rendering him immobile. He struggled, unsuccessfully, and finally snarled, "Shiva."

He couldn't finish his thought though, grinding his teeth together and clenching his jaw. He was out-muscled and out-skilled, and had been from the start.

"Admirable indeed," Shiva nearly purred, unable to mask her amusement, "But not nearly _enough_." Leaning back, sitting up against his thighs, Shiva slammed her fist across Tim's face, breaking his nose and eliciting a deliciously helpless keening that rose up from the very center of his chest.

Tim had asked to be trained again, because he knew he had to get stronger, to be able to protect the people he still had. The ones who had mattered most were all dead or missing or disconnected, and the young Robin had only been able to think that if only he were stronger, or faster, or _better_ , he could have saved them. Fighting the blackness at the edges of his vision, he groaned, "N-no. I'm not done yet."

"You are finished, little bird. I've killed you," Shiva replied plainly, only to have his body surge beneath her. With all the strength he had, Tim threw her off of him.

"No!" howled the blue-eyed boy, struggling to balance on all fours. "I'm not dead yet," he gasped, the blood from his nose making it hard to breathe.  
"Why not," Shiva hissed, an eagerness in her voice as she wiped blood from the corner of her mouth, her fingers pressing hard into the fast-rising bruise across her belly.  
"I won't die now," Tim groaned, a dizzy throb burning at the back of his skull. "I _won't_ die."

"Answer the question!" she barked, eyes burning when they leveled on him.  
"I have to _kill_ you some day," he ground out, tears slipping down his cheeks against his will, to mix with the blood that stained his skin. His voice was gruff and intense, when he said again, "I _won't_ die before that."

Shiva savored, for a moment, her victory. "Then _live_ ," she purred, "and fight." Crossing the room to crouch at his side, Shiva cradled Tim's head in her hands. He closed his eyes, trembling, waiting for her to break his neck. Shiva thought that there was no need to; even the Bat would not be able to win Tim back, now.

Tim blinked, looking up at her for a moment, before he snapped his eyes tightly shut and collapsed against her, face pressing flush against her thigh. She curled her fingers in his hair, certain that some day, many years down the road, he _would_ make good on his promise.

Shiva had found her successor.


	2. [two]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim mourns Conner, and resumes his training.

Tim was furious. Nothing was working, no matter how hard he tried or how deeply he thought about it, it just wasn't happening. He couldn't get Conner back. Inside his cave, under the Titans Tower, Tim snarled for the computer to try again - to analyze every aspect of the failed cloning attempts in some crazy, misguided effort to figure out how to get his best friend to come back home to him.

Of course Cassie knew he blamed her, he couldn't keep the bitterness out of his eyes. The Titans needed her, though. He needed her to be around, to make them stronger and give him the time to figure it out. To think and hope and _love_ Conner back into life. Tim had a feeling that Cassie knew that, too, but she had wisely left their shared love for Kon go unsaid.

Tim left the cave with a tightness in his jaw and a sharp sting behind his eyes that was also in the back of his throat and tearing up the center of his chest from the inside. Tim slammed one tightly-closed fist into the wall by that damn golden monument to the boy he never told he loved. It was a stupid thing to do, it only made him hurt more, and it didn't make him any more capable.

"God damn it," he hissed, voice small and twining with too much air as he leaned against the base that held the metallic-tinged likeness of his lost love. "How am I supposed to think without you around? Without your .. .idiot comments and your being too loud about everything and your..." Tim trailed off, swallowing thickly.

" _I_ wouldn't have let you die," he growled, fingers curling white-knuckled against the plaque that bore Conner's name. "I'd at lest have gone down with you. If I'd been there," he started, voice rushed, but he never finished the thought.

Tim knew that if he had been there, nothing would have changed. Kon would never had let him get himself hurt. Kon would've died protecting him, too. Head hung low, Tim struggled to catch his breath. Out of the shadows behind him melted a blissfully familiar figure, her lips curled into an amused smile.

"Self-pity hardly becomes you, little bird," Shiva said plainly, watching Tim's shoulders shake for grief and his cheeks burn red with embarrassment.

"S-Shiva," he blurted, whirling around and pressing his back flush against the monument base. "I --"

"No excuses. You have lost something dear to you. You must not make the mistake again."

"I can't just cut myself off from people, I --"

"You misunderstand me, little bird. You must not be so weak as to be powerless, next time."

"Next Time," Tim said glumly, sickness churning up in his belly. Of course, there would be a next time. Steph, his father, and now Conner. Bruce or Dick would probably be next. Bruce, of all people for Tim to worry about - but now, Tim couldn't even take _him_ for granted. Kon had been indestructible.

He rubbed the back of his neck, pushing off from the statue and slid easily enough into the shadows where Shiva stood. She rested her hand on the small of his back and said firmly, "Your grief makes you weak, little bird. You _must_ move on, to make any progress."

"How am I supposed to leave him behind?!" Tim snapped, but regretted the sharpness of his tone the moment Shiva pulled her hand away.

"You must," she said simply. "How is of no consequence."

Deflating in front of her, Tim hid his face in his hands.

"Only take care," Shiva added, watching him tremble, "That you do not trap yourself in loss. If you become like the Bat, you will never grow."

Tim's head snapped up and he looked wide-eyed at Shiva, lips parted in surprise and realization. She nodded, pleased with him, and before he could find his voice again, she was gone.

It was not long after that when Tim nearly begged her to take him under her wing again.


	3. [three]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiva makes her intentions clear -- er, as clear as they ever are.

Tim woke up in a world of pain. His body ached, every muscle burning from strain, every bone throbbing from deep bruises and hairline fractures. Even the thin, firm mattress on which he lay felt like some kind of torture device. The heavy scent of Jasmine tea in the air made Tim's head reel. Injuries still untended, Tim rolled carefully onto his side, squinting into the mid-evening rust-orange haze of the room.

She knew that he could see her, sleekly-muscled legs propped up on the edge of the tub. Really, it was a large, metal basin pressed near the left side of the wall in the surprisingly comfortable cavern in which Shiva had chosen to take up residence while she trained her new apprentice. (Barely) hidden behind a thin drape of russet-dyed cotton, Shiva shifted her weight in the water, which sloshed gently against the sides of the tub. Tim could have sworn that the cool softness of that noise drowned out completely the rush of the small, winding creek that guarded the mouth of their makeshift home.

She heard his breath catch, and glanced over her shoulder and through the cloth that outlined too-clearly her silhouette. Tim immediately turned his eyes away, hauling himself off of his cot-like bed, in search of medical supplies. Tim peeled off his shirt, wincing as he appraised the damage she had done him during their most recent training bout. He felt his knees waver under his weight when the water-sounds behind him let him know that Shiva had stood up and stepped into the open air.

Pressing a glob of herbal bruise balm to a deep-purple blotch on his ribs, Tim closed his eyes and tried not to think about the brief rustle of cloth behind him. Shiva, wrapped in a linen robe, slid past him. He met her eyes, lips twitching up into a smile. Together they moved - he had seen her thighs tense in anticipation of a lunge - and in spite of the sharp pain that shot through his likely-sprained shoulder, Tim blocked both her first blow and her second.

Shiva thrust her heel sharply into his gut, knocking the breath from him as he lashed out with an open palm, connecting the side of his hand to her rib. Tim took a solid fist to the jaw and stumbled, dropping to his hands and kicking out automatically. Shiva jumped his kick, and caught him across the face with the instep of her foot - payment for the glimpse of flesh Tim stole from that low vantage point.

He rolled, recovering with a surge, and sent a harsh kick to the center of Shiva's chest. It won him a grunt and a laugh from his mentor; she was proud of him.

Snarling, Tim launched himself at her, too focused now on his goal of bringing her down to count the number of hits he landed, or register the pain of the ones he took. The final blow belonged to Shiva. With barely a tap to Tim's collarbone, she sent him sprawling back against the mattress, struggling to breathe. Tim knew that the bone had broken, but pushed himself up, rough-skinned hands grabbing hold of Shiva's robe as he threw her, propelling her across the cavern with what strength he had left.

She sprung off her hands, landed with cat-like grace on her feet and slammed her fist into his chest. Again, Tim fell back, lungs screaming for a smooth and uninterrupted breath. Again, he tried to get to his feet.

Shiva was on top of Tim in an instant, her weight pinning him where he lay. Over Tim's ragged breathing, she whispered, "Lay still, little bird," and kissed him.


	4. [four]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter (for now, at least). Tim takes risks and reaps benefits.

Tim was surprised to find himself in a state other than 'dead' when he pulled back to wet his lips and catch his breath. Shiva's mouth had been warm and rough and tasted like oranges and sen-cha. She looked at him incredulously, a single brow arching as she appraised him once more. Her hand shot out, lightning-quick and deadly, and Tim avoided the blow by dropping down and pressing himself to the floor.

He shot out one rough-skinned hand and wrapped his fingers around her ankle, tugging her down in one swift motion. Still wondering at how he managed to kiss the most dangerous person he'd ever known without losing some vital part of his anatomy, Tim slammed the heel of his palm into her shoulder. Or at least, into the place where her shoulder had been before she moved. The blue-eyed boy cried out in pain, surprised as he cradled his hand against his chest. It was by no means broken, but slamming into the ground with that much force behind it still hurt. He balled it into a fist just in time to take a kick to the ribs. Rolling with the blow and recovering quickly, Tim launched himself at Shiva again.

She laughed. "Ambitious, Little Bird, but poorly executed." He was easily thrown. Tim hoped she had been talking about the attack, and not the kiss.


End file.
